President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has forwarded the names of 32 Ambassadorial nominees to the Senate for confirmation, days after he sent the first batch of three names.
On the forwarded non-career Ambassador designates list are former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmud Yakubu, former presidential aide, Reno Omokri (Delta), former Enugu governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi , Barrister Ogbonnaya Kalu from Abia State and former Ekiti first lady, Erelu Angela Adebayo.
Others are Tasiu Musa Maigari, the former speaker of the Katsina House of Assembly, Yakubu N. Gambo, a former Commissioner in Plateau State and former deputy executive secretary of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC).
Professor Nora Ladi Daduut, a former senator from Plateau; Otunba Femi Pedro, a former deputy governor of Lagos State; Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, a former aviation minister from Osun State; and Barrister Nkechi Linda Ufochukwu from Anambra State are on the nomination list.
Also on the list are former First Lady of Oyo, Fatima Florence Ajimobi, former Lagos Commissioner, Lola Akande, former Adamawa Senator, Grace Bent, former governor of Abia, Victor Okezie Ikpeazu, Business man and lawyer, Senator representing Ondo State, Jimoh Ibrahim and the former ambassador of Nigeria to the Holy See, Ambassador Paul Oga Adikwu from Benue State.
Career Ambassador List
Among the nominees for career ambassador and high commissioner-designates are: Enebechi Monica Okwuchukwu (Abia), Yakubu Nyaku Danladi (Taraba), Miamuna Ibrahim Besto (Adamawa), Musa Musa Abubakar (Kebbi), Syndoph Paebi Endoni (Bayelsa), Chima Geoffrey Lioma David (Ebonyi) and Mopelola Adeola-Ibrahim (Ogun).
The other nominees are Abimbola Samuel Reuben (Ondo), Yvonne Ehinosen Odumah (Edo), Hamza Mohammed Salau (Niger), Ambassador Shehu Barde (Katsina), Ambassador Ahmed Mohammed Monguno (Borno), Ambassador Muhammad Saidu Dahiru (Kaduna), Ambassador Olatunji Ahmed Sulu Gambari (Kwara) and Ambassador Wahab Adekola Akande (Osun).
The new nominees are expected to be posted to countries with which Nigeria maintains excellent and strategic bilateral relations, such as China, India, South Korea, Canada, Mexico, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, South Africa, Kenya, and to Permanent Missions such as the United Nations, UNESCO, and the African Union.
A statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy ,Mr Bayo Onanuga stated that “in two separate letters to the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, President Tinubu asked the Senate to consider and confirm expeditiously the 15 nominees as Career Ambassadors and the 17 nominees as non-Career Ambassadors.”
The statement also highlighted that the nominees would know their diplomatic assignments after their confirmation by the Senate.
The recently released list contained four women on the career ambassadors’ list and six women on the non-career ambassadors’ list.
Last week, President Tinubu forwarded three Ambassadorial nominees for screening and confirmation.
The nominees were Ambassador Ayodele Oke (Oyo), Ambassador Amin Mohammed Dalhatu (Jigawa), and Retired Colonel Lateef Kayode Are (Ogun). All three are in the pot for posting to the UK, USA, or France after their confirmation.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu said more nominees for Ambassadorial positions will be announced soon.
Mercy Chukwudiebere